Ariosophy

Ariosophy

Not to be confused with Arianism.Armanism redirects here. For theDutch Protestant the-ological movement, see Arminianism.Armanism and Ariosophy are the names of ideologi-

Werner von Blows World-Rune-Clock, illustrating the corre-spondences between Lists Armanen runes, the signs of the zodiacand the gods of the months

cal systems of an esoteric nature, pioneered by Guido vonList and Jrg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austriabetween 1890 and 1930. The term 'Ariosophy', mean-ing wisdom concerning the Aryans, was rst coined byLanz von Liebenfels in 1915 and became the label forhis doctrine in the 1920s. In research on the topic, suchas Nicholas Goodrick-Clarkes book The Occult Rootsof Nazism, the term 'Ariosophy' is used generically todescribe the Aryan-esoteric theories of a subset of the'Vlkische Bewegung'.[1] This broader use of the wordis retrospective and was not generally current among theesotericists themselves. List actually called his doctrine'Armanism', while Lanz used the terms 'Theozoology'and 'Ario-Christianity' before the First World War.The ideas of Von List and Lanz von Liebenfels were partof a general occult revival in Austria and Germany of thelate 19th and early 20th centuries, inspired by histori-cal Germanic paganism and holistic philosophy as wellas esoteric concepts inuenced by German romanticismand Theosophy. The connection of this Germanic mys-ticism with historical Germanic culture is evident in themystics fascination with runes, in the form of Guido vonLists Armanen runes. Ariosophy in its narrow sense was

a Liturgic-free newthought-inuencedmovement withoutclearly delineated dogmatics, centered around the publi-cations of Herbert Reichstein Verlag.

1 OverviewIdeology regarding the Aryan race (in the sense ofIndo-Europeans, though with Germanic peoples beingviewed as their purest representatives), runic symbols,the swastika, and sometimes occultism are importantelements in Ariosophy. From around 1900, esotericnotions entered Guido Lists thoughts by 1899 at thelatest.[2] In April 1903 he sent his manuscript, propos-ing what Goodrick-Clarke calls a monumental pseu-doscience concerning the ancient German faith, to theImperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna[3] onwards,these Ariosophic ideas (together with, and inuenced by,Theosophy) contributed signicantly to an occult coun-terculture in Germany and Austria. A historic interest inthis topic has stemmed from the ideological relation ofAriosophy to Nazism, and is obvious in such book titlesas:

The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

Der Mann, der Hitler die Ideen gab (The Man WhoGave Hitler His Ideas), Wilfried Daim's biographyof Lanz von Liebenfels

However, Goodrick-Clarkes comprehensive study ndslittle evidence of direct inuence, except in the case ofthe highly idiosyncratic ancient-German mythos elabo-rated by the 'clairvoyant' SS-Brigadefhrer Karl MariaWiligut,[Note 1] of which the practical consequences were,rst, the incorporation of Wiliguts symbolism into theceremonies of an elite circle within the SS; and, secondly,the ocial censure of those occultists and runic magi-cians whom Wiligut stigmatised as heretics, which mayhave persuaded Heinrich Himmler to order the intern-ment of several of them.[Note 2] The most notable othercase is Himmlers Ahnenerbe. (For the debate on the di-rect relations to Nazi ideology see Religious aspects ofNazism.) Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 192202) examineswhat evidence there is for inuences on Hitler and onother Nazis, but he concludes that Ariosophy is a symp-tom rather than an inuence in the way that it anticipatedNazism.[7]

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2 2 ARMANISM

1.1 'Ariosophic' writers and organisations

While a broad denition of the term 'Ariosophy' is usefulfor some purposes, various of the later authors, includ-ing Ellegaard Ellerbek, Philipp Stau and Gnther Kir-cho, can more exactly be described as cultivating theArmanism of List (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 155). In aless broad approach one could also treat rune occultismseparately. Although the Armanen runes go back to List,Rudolf John Gorsleben distinguished himself from othervlkischwriters by making the esoteric importance of therunes central to his world view. Goodrick-Clarke there-fore refers to the doctrine of Kummer and Gorslebenand his followers as rune occultism, a description whichalso ts the eclectic work of Karl Spiesberger. Highlypractical systems of rune occultism, inuenced mainly byList, were developed by Friedrich Bernhard Marby andSiegfried Adolf Kummer (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 16062). Also worthy of mention are Peryt Shou, the occultnovelist; A. Frank Glahn, noted more for his pendulumdowsing; Rudolf von Sebottendor and Walter Nauhaus,who built up the Thule Society; and Karl Maria Wiligut,who was the most notable occultist working for the SS.Organisations include: the Guido von List Society, theHigh Armanen Order, the Lumen Club, the Ordo NoviTempli, theGermanenorden (in which a schism occurred)and the Thule Society.

2 ArmanismGuido von List elaborated a racial religion premised onthe concept of renouncing the imposed foreign creed ofChristianity and returning to the pagan religions of the an-cient Indo-Europeans (List preferred the equivalent termArio-Germanen, or 'Aryo-Germanics). List recognisedthe theoretical distinction between the Indo-European('Aryan') protolanguage and the derivative Germanic pro-tolanguage but frequently obscured it by his tendency totreat them as a single long-lived entity.[8] In this, he be-came strongly inuenced by the Theosophical thought ofMadame Blavatsky, which he blended however with hisown highly original beliefs, founded upon Germanic pa-ganism.Before he turned to occultism, Guido List had written ar-ticles for German Nationalist newspapers in Austria, aswell as four historical novels and three plays, some ofwhich were set in tribal Germany before the advent ofChristianity.[9] He also had written an anti-semitic essayin 1895. List adopted the aristocratic von between 1903and 1907.List called his doctrine Armanism after the Armanen,supposedly a body of priest-kings in the ancient Aryo-Germanic nation. He claimed that this German namehad been Latinized into the tribal nameHerminonesmen-tioned in Tacitus and that it actually meant the heirs of the

Guido von List in 1910 from the book Guido v. List: DerWiederentdecker Uralter Arischer Weisheit by Johannes Balzli,published in 1917

sun-king: an estate of intellectuals who were organisedinto a priesthood called the Armanenschaft.[10]

His conception of the original religion of the Germanictribes was a form of sun worship, with its priest-kings(similar to the Icelandic goi) as legendary rulers ofancient Germany. Religious instruction was impartedon two levels. The esoteric doctrine (Armanism) wasconcerned with the secret mysteries of the gnosis, re-served for the initiated elite, while the exoteric doctrine(Wotanism) took the form of popular myths intended forthe lower social classes.[11]

List believed that the transition from Wotanism to Chris-tianity had proceeded smoothly under the direction of theskalds, so that native customs, festivals and names werepreserved under a Christian veneer and only needed to be'decoded' back into their heathen forms.[12] This peace-ful merging of the two religions had been disrupted bythe forcible conversions under bloody Charlemagne the Slaughterer of the Saxons".[13] List claimed that thedominance of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria-Hungary constituted a continuing occupation of the Ger-manic tribes by the Roman empire, albeit now in a reli-gious form, and a continuing persecution of the ancientreligion of the Germanic peoples and Celts.He also believed in the magical powers of the old runes.From 1891 onwards he claimed that heraldry was based

2.1 Guido von List Society and High Armanen Order 3

on a system of encoded runes, so that heraldic devicesconveyed a secret heritage in cryptic form. In April 1903,he submitted an article concerning the alleged Aryanproto-language to the Imperial Academy of Sciences inVienna. Its highlight was a mystical and occult interpreta-tion of the runic alphabet, which became the cornerstoneof his ideology. Although the article was rejected by theacademy, it would later be expanded by List and grewinto his nal masterpiece, a comprehensive treatment ofhis linguistic and historical theories published in 1914 asDie Ursprache der Ario-Germanen und ihre Mysterien-sprache (The Proto-Language of the Aryo-Germanics andtheir Mystery Language).Lists doctrine has been described as gnostic, pantheistand deist.[14] At its core is the mystical union of God, manand nature. Wotanism teaches that God dwells withinthe individual human spirit as an inner source of magi-cal power, but is also immanent within nature through theprimal laws which govern the cycles of growth, decay andrenewal. List explicitly rejects a dualism of spirit versusmatter or of God over against nature. Humanity is there-fore one with the universe, which entails an obligation tolive in accordance with nature. But the individual humanego does not seek to merge with the cosmos. Man isa separate agent, necessary to the completion or perfec-tion of Gods work".[15] Being immortal, the ego passesthrough successive reincarnations until it overcomes allobstacles to its purpose. List foresaw the eventual con-sequences of this in a future utopia on earth, which heidentied with the promised Valhalla, a world of victori-ous heroes:

Thus in the course of uncounted genera-tions all men will become Einherjar, and thatstate willed and preordained by the godhead of general liberty, equality, and fraternity willbe reached. This is that state which sociolo-gists long for and which socialists want to bringabout by false means, for they are not able tocomprehend the esoteric concept that lies hid-den in the triad: liberty, equality, fraternity, aconcept which must rst ripen and mature inorder that someday it can be picked like a fruitfrom the World Tree.[16]

List was familiar with the cyclical notion of time, whichhe encountered in Norse mythology and in the theosoph-ical adaptation of the Hindu time cycles. He had alreadymade use of cosmic rhythms in his early journalism onnatural landscapes.[17] In his later works[Note 3] List com-bined the cyclical concept of time with the dualistic andlinear time scheme of western apocalyptic which coun-terposes a pessimism about the present world with anultimate optimism regarding the future one.[19] In DasGeheimnis der Runen,[20] List addresses the seeming con-tradiction by explaining the nal redemption of the lineartime frame as an exoteric parable which stands for theesoteric truth of renewal in many future cycles and in-

carnations. However, in the original Norse myths andHinduism, the cycle of destruction and creation is re-peated indenitely, thus oering no possibility of ulti-mate salvation (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 79; 239, note 14to Chapter 9).

2.1 Guido von List Society and High Ar-manen Order

Already in 1893 Guido List[Note 4] together with FannyWschiansky, had founded the Literarische Donauge-sellschaft, a literary society (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 39).In 1908 the Guido von List Society (Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft) was founded primarily by the Wannieckfamily (Friedrich Wannieck and his son Friedrich Os-kar Wannieck being prominent and enthusiastic Arman-ists) as an occult vlkisch organisation, with the purposeof nancing and publishing Lists research (Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 42). The List Society was supported bymany leading gures in Austrian and German politics,publishing, and occultism.[Note 5] Although one might sus-pect a vlkisch organisation to be antisemitic, the so-ciety included at least two Jews among its members:Moritz Altschler, a rabbinical scholar (Goodrick-Clarke1985: 99), and Ernst Wachler.[21] The List Society pub-lished Lists works under the series Guido-List-Bcherei(GLB).[22][Note 6]

List had established exoteric and esoteric circles in his or-ganisation. The High Armanen Order (Hoher ArmanenOrden) was the inner circle of the Guido von List Society.Founded in midsummer 1911, it was set up as a magicalorder or lodge to support Lists deeper and more practicalwork. The HAO conducted pilgrimages to what its mem-bers considered holy Armanic sites, Stephansdom inVienna, Carnuntum etc. They also had occasional meet-ings between 1911 and 1918, but the exact nature of theseremains unknown. In his introduction to Lists The Secretof the Runes, Stephen E. Flowers (1988: 11) notes: TheHAO never really crystallized in Lists lifetime althoughit seems possible that he developed a theoretical body ofunpublished documents and rituals relevant to the HAOwhich have only been put into full practice in more recentyears.

2.2 Listians under the Third Reich

List died on 17 May 1919, a few months before AdolfHitler joined a minor Bavarian political party and formedit into the NSDAP. After the Nazis had come to power,several advocates of Armanism fell victim to the suppres-sion of esotericism in Nazi Germany.The main reason for the persecution of occultists was theNazi policy of systematically closing down esoteric or-ganisations (although Germanic paganism was still prac-tised by some Nazis on an individual basis), but the insti-

4 3 THEOZOOLOGY

gator in certain cases was Himmlers personal occultist,Karl Maria Wiligut. Wiligut identied the monotheisticreligion of Irminism as the true ancestral belief, claimingthat Guido von ListsWotanism and runic row constituteda schismatic false religion.Among the Listians Kummer and Marby are not men-tioned by Goodrick-Clarke[23] among the signatories whoendorsed the List Society around 1905 but both menwere indebted to Listian ideas[24] who were subjectedto censure were the rune occultists Friedrich BernhardMarby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer, both of whomweredenounced by Wiligut in 1934 in a letter to Himmler.[25]Flowers[26] writes: The establishment of [an] 'ocialNS runology' under Himmler, Wiligut, and others leddirectly to the need to suppress the rune-magical 'freeagents such as Marby. Despite having openly supportedthe Nazis,[27] Marby was arrested by the Gestapo in 1936as an anti-Nazi occultist and was interned in Welzheim,Flossenbrg and Dachau concentration camps.[28][29][30]Kummer disappears from History after Wiliguts de-nunciation in 1934, and his fate is unknown. He mayhave died in a concentration camp.[20] According toRudgley,[31] "[u]nsubstantiated rumours have him ee-ing Nazi Germany in exile to South America, but it ismore likely that he perished in one of the camps thatMarby was to survive or died during the Allied bombingof Dresden.Gnter Kirchho, a List Society member whom Wiliguthad recommended to Himmler on the strength of his re-searches into prehistory, is reported to have written thatWiligut by intrigue had ensured that Ernst Lauterer (a.k.a.Tarnhari) another List Society member, who claimeda secret clan tradition which rivalled Wiliguts own wascommitted to a concentration camp as an English agent.Flowers and Moynihan[32] reproduce Kirchhos testi-mony as reported by both Adolf Schleipfer and researcherManfred Lenz (but doubted byWiliguts former secretaryGabriele Dechend).

3 TheozoologyIn 19034, a Viennese ex-Cistercian monk, Bible scholarand inventor named Jrg Lanz-Liebenfels (subsequently,Jrg Lanz von Liebenfels) published a lengthy article un-der the Latin title "Anthropozoon Biblicum" (The Bibli-cal Man-Animal) in a journal for Biblical studies editedby Moritz Altschler, a Jewish admirer of Guido vonList. The author undertook a comparative survey of an-cient Near Eastern cultures, in which he detected ev-idence from iconography and literature which seemedto point to the continued survival, into early histori-cal times, of hominid ape-men similar to the dwarshNeanderthal men known from fossil remains in Europe,or the Pithecanthropus (now called Homo erectus) fromJava.[33] Furthermore, Lanz systematically analysed theOld Testament in the light of his hypothesis, identifying

Jrg Lanz von Liebenfels

and interpreting coded references to the ape-men whichsubstantiated an illicit practice of interbreeding betweenhumans and lower species in antiquity.In 1905 he expanded these researches into a fundamentalstatement of doctrine titled Theozoologie oder die Kundevon den Sodoms-ingen und dem Gtter-Elektron[34]("Theozoology, or the Science of the Sodomite-Apelingsand the Divine Electron"). He claimed that Aryan peo-ples originated from interstellar deities (termed Theozoa)who bred by electricity, while lower races were a re-sult of interbreeding between humans and ape-men (orAnthropozoa). The eects of racial crossing caused theatrophy of paranormal powers inherited from the gods,but these could be restored by the selective breeding ofpure Aryan lineages. The book relied on somewhat luridsexual imagery, decrying the abuse of white women byethnically inferior but sexually active men. Thus, Lanzadvocated mass castration of racially apelike or other-wise inferior males.[35]

In the same year, Lanz commenced publication of thejournal Ostara (named after the pagan Germanic goddessof spring) to promote his vision of racial purity. On De-cember 25, 1907 he founded theOrder of theNewTem-plars (Ordo Novi Templi, or ONT), a mystical associa-tion with its headquarters at Burg Werfenstein, a castle inUpper Austria overlooking the river Danube. Its declaredaim was to harmonise science, art and religion on a basisof racial consciousness. Rituals were designed to beautify

5life in accordance with Aryan aesthetics, and to expressthe Orders theological system which Lanz called Ario-Christianity. The Order was the rst to use the swastikain an Aryan meaning, displaying on its ag the deviceof a red swastika facing right, on a yellow-orange eldand surrounded by four blue eurs-de-lys above, below,to the right and to the left.The ONT declined from the mid-1930s and - even thoughit had pioneeredmany ideas which theNazis later adopted- it was suppressed by the Gestapo in 1942. By this timeit had established seven utopian communities in Austria,Germany and Hungary. Though suspending its activitiesin the Greater German Reich, the ONT survived in Hun-gary until around the end of World War II.[36] It wentunderground in Vienna after 1945, but was contacted in1958 by a former Waen-SS lieutenant, Rudolf Mund,who became Prior of the Order in 1979.[37] Mund alsowrote biographies of Lanz and Wiligut.The term Ariosophy (wisdom concerning the Aryans)was coined by Lanz von Liebenfels in 1915, with Theo-zoology describing its Genesis and Ario-Christianityas the label for the overall doctrine in the 1920s.[Note 7]

This terminology was taken up by a group of occultists,formed in Berlin around 1920 and referred to by one of itsmain gures, Ernst Issberner-Haldane, as the 'Swastika-Circle'. Lanzs publisher, Herbert Reichstein, made con-tact with the group in 1925 and formed it into an insti-tute with himself as director. This association was namedthe Ariosophical Society in 1926, renamed the NeueKalandsgesellschaft (from Kaland, Guido von Liststerm for a secret lodge or conventicle) in 1928, andrenamed again as the Ariosophische Kulturzentrale in1931, the year in which it opened an Ariosophical Schoolat Pressbaum that oered courses and lectures in runiclore, biorhythms, yoga and Qabalah.The institute maintained a friendly collaboration withLanz, its guiding intellect and inspiration, but also ac-knowledged an indebtedness to List, declaring itself asthe successor to the Armanen priest-kings and theirhierophantic tradition. Reichsteins circle therefore es-tablishes the historical precedent for a broad conceptionthat was followed by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke in 1985when he redened Ariosophy as a general term to de-scribe Aryan-centric occult theories and hermetic prac-tices, including both Lanzs Ario-Christianity and the ear-lier Armanism of List, as well as later derivatives of eitheror both systems. If the term is employed in this extendedsense, then Guido von List, and not Lanz von Liebenfels,was the founder of Ariosophy.The justication for the broad denition is that List andLanz were mutually inuencing. The two men joined oneanothers societies; List gures in Lanzs pedigree of initi-ated predecessors; and Lanz is cited several times by Listin The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic Folk: Esoteric andExoteric (1910).

4 GermanenordenMain article: Germanenorden

Although List had been concerned to awaken Germannationalist consciousness,[39] the High Armanen Orderhad addressed itself to the upper and middle class Ger-mans in Austria,[39] and here List had preferred the roleof the mystagogue[40] over political activism. Lists dis-ciples, however, became active in the Reichshammerbundand the Germanenorden, two historically signicant,virulently antisemitic groups[40] in Germany. Bothgroups were organized by the political activist TheodorFritsch, a major gure in German antisemitism. Fritsch,born 1852, was the son of Saxon peasants, and he wasconcerned about the small tradesmen and craftsmen[40]and their threat from what he perceived to be the large'Jewish' industry.

Rudolf von Sebottendor: bust by German sculptor Hanns Goebl

The List-inspired Germanenorden (Germanic or Teu-tonic Order, not to be confused with the medieval Ger-man order of the Teutonic Knights) was a vlkisch secretsociety in early 20th century Germany. It was founded inBerlin in 1912 by Theodor Fritsch and several prominentGerman occultists including Philipp Stau, who held of-ce in the List Society and High Armanen Order as wellas Hermann Pohl, who became the Germanenordens rstleader. The group was a clandestine movement aimed atthe upper echelons of society and was a sister movement

6 5 THULE SOCIETY

to the more mainstream Reichshammerbund.[41]

The order, whose symbol was a swastika, had a hierar-chical fraternal structure similar to Freemasonry. Localgroups of the sect met to celebrate the summer solstice,an important neopagan festivity in vlkisch circles (andlater in Nazi Germany), and more regularly to read theEddas as well as some of the German mystics.[42]

In addition to occult and magical philosophies, it taughtto its initiates nationalist ideologies of Nordic racial su-periority and antisemitism, then rising throughout theWestern world. As was becoming increasingly typical ofvlkisch organisations, it required its candidates to provethat they had no non-Aryan bloodlines and required fromeach a promise tomaintain purity of his stock inmarriage.In 1916, during World War I, the Germanenorden splitinto two parts. Eberhard von Brockhusen became theGrand Master of the loyalist Germanenorden. Pohl,previously the orders Chancellor, founded a schismaticoshoot: the Germanenorden Walvater of the HolyGrail.[43][44] He was joined in the same year by Rudolfvon Sebottendor (formerly Rudolf Glauer), a wealthyadventurer with wide-ranging occult and mystical inter-ests. A Freemason and a practitioner of susm andastrology, Sebottendor was also an admirer of Guidovon List and Lanz von Liebenfels. Convinced that theIslamic and Germanic mystical systems shared a com-mon Aryan root, he was attracted by Pohls runic lore andbecame the Master of the Walvaters Bavarian provincelate in 1917. Charged with reviving the provinces for-tunes, Sebottendor increased membership from about ahundred in 1917 to 1500 by the autumn of the followingyear.[45]

5 Thule SocietyMain article: Thule Society

In 1918 Sebottendor made contact with WalterNauhaus, a member of the Germanenorden who headeda Germanic study group called the Thule Gesellschaft(Thule Society).[46] The name of Nauhauss originalThule Society was adopted as a cover-name for Sebot-tendors Munich lodge of the Germanenorden Walvaterwhen it was formally dedicated on August 18, 1918, withPohls assistance and approval.[47] Sebottendor statesthat the group was run jointly by himself and Nauhaus.Deriving elements of its ideology and membership fromearlier occult groups founded by List (Guido von List So-ciety, established 1908) and Lanz von Liebenfels (the Or-der of the New Templars, established 1907), the ThuleSociety was dedicated to the triune god Walvater, iden-tied with Wotan in triple form. For the Societys em-blem Sebottendor selected the oak leaves, dagger andswastika (Thomas 2005). The name Thule (an islandlocated by Greek geographers at the northernmost ex-

tremity of the world) was chosen for its signicance inthe works of Guido von List. According to Thule Soci-ety mythology, Thule was the capital of Hyperborea, alegendary country supposedly in the far North polar re-gions, originally mentioned by Herodotus from Egyptiansources. In 1679, Olaf Rudbeck equated the Hyperbore-ans with the survivors of Atlantis, who were rst men-tioned by Plato, again following Egyptian sources. In-terestingly enough, Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900) be-gan his workDer Antichrist (The Antichrist) in 1895 with,Let us see ourselves for what we are. We are Hyperbore-ans.From a historians perspective, the importance of theThule Society lies in its organising the discussion cir-cle which led to the German Workers Party (DeutscheArbeiter-Partei, or DAP), founded in January 1919. TheThule Societys Karl Harrer was a co-founder, along withAntonDrexler (the partys rst chairman). Later the sameyear, Adolf Hitler joined the DAP, which was renamedas the NSDAP (or Nazi party) on April 1, 1920. Someconspiracy theorists argue that the NSDAP, when underHitlers leadership, was a political front for the Thule So-ciety. However, against this theory stands Harrers andDrexlers resistance to Hitler. After unsuccessful chal-lenges to his growing power, both men resigned from theparty, Harrer in 1920 and Drexler in 1923.Speculative authors assert that a number of high NaziParty ocials had been members of the Thule Soci-ety (including such prominent gures as Max Amann,Dietrich Eckart, Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg andGottfried Feder). Eckart, the wealthy publisher of thenewspaper Auf gut Deutsch (In Plain German), has beenrepresented as a committed occultist and the most signif-icant Thule inuence on Hitler. He is believed to havetaught Hitler a number of persuasive techniques, and soprofound was his inuence that Hitlers bookMein Kampfwas dedicated to him. However, although Eckart at-tended Thule Society meetings, he was not a member andthere is nothing to indicate that he trained Hitler in tech-niques of a mystical nature. Examining the membershiplists, Goodrick-Clarke[48] notes that Hess, Rosenberg andFeder were like Eckart guests of the Thule Societyin 1918 but not actual members. He also describes aThule Society membership roll including Hans Frank andHeinrich Himmler as spurious. There is no evidencethat Hitler himself had any connection with the Society,even as an associate or visitor. However, a member of theThule Society, dentist Dr. Friedrich Krohn, did choosethe swastika symbol for the Nazi party (although the de-sign was revised at Hitlers insistence).In 1923, Sebottendor was expelled from Germany asan undesirable alien; around 1925, the Thule Society dis-banded. In 1933, Sebottendor returned to Germanyand published Bevor Hitler kam: Urkundliches aus derFrhzeit der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung von Rudolfvon Sebottendor.[46] The book was banned by the Bavar-ian political police on March 1, 1934; Sebottendor

7was arrested by the Gestapo, interned in a concentrationcamp, then expelled to Turkey yet again, where he com-mitted suicide by drowning in the Bosphorus on May 9,1945, as the Nazis surrendered to the Allies.

6 Edda Society

Rudolf John Gorsleben

Rudolf John Gorsleben was associated with the ThuleSociety during the Bavarian Soviet Republic of 1919and, along with Dietrich Eckart, he was taken prisonerby the Communists, narrowly escaping execution. Hethrew himself into the ferment of Bavarias vlkisch pol-itics and formed a close working relationship with the lo-cal Germanenorden before devoting himself to literarypursuits.[49]

On 29 November 1925, Gorsleben founded the EddaSociety (Edda-Gesellschaft), a mystic study group, atDinkelsbhl in Franconia. He himself was Chancellor ofthe Society and published its periodical Deutsche Frei-heit (German Freedom), later renamed Arische Freiheit(Aryan Freedom). Assisted by learned contributors to hisstudy-group, Gorsleben developed an original and eclec-tic mystery religion founded in part upon the Armanismof List, whom he quoted with approval.[50]

Grand Master of the Society was Werner von Blow(18701947). The treasurer was Friedrich Schaefer fromMhlhausen, whose wife, Kthe, kept open house for an-other occult-vlkisch circle (the 'Free Sons of the North

and Baltic Seas) which gathered around Karl Maria Wil-igut in the early 1930s.[51] Mathilde von Kemnitz, aprolic vlkisch writer who married General Erich Lu-dendor in 1926, was an active member of the EddaSociety.[Note 8]

When Rudolf John Gorsleben died from heart disease inAugust 1930, the Edda Society was taken over by Blowwho had designed a 'world-rune-clock' which illustratedthe correspondences between the runes, the gods and thezodiac, as well as colours and numbers. Blow also tookover the running of Gorslebens periodical and changedits name from Arische Freiheit to Hag All All Hag, andthen Hagal.

7 Modern organisationsIn the later 20th century, Germanic neopagan move-ments oriented themselves more towards polytheistic re-constructionism, turning away from theosophic and oc-cult elements, but elements of Ariosophical mysticismcontinue to play a role in some white supremacist organi-zations. Alleged mystical or shamanic aspects of histori-cal pre-Christian Germanic culture, summarized as seidrare also practiced in Odinism (Freya Aswynn, Nigel Pen-nick, Karl Spiesberger, see also Germanic Runic Astrol-ogy, The Book of Blotar).

7.1 Armanen-Orden

1 23

4

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891011

12

13

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16

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Circular arrangement of the Armanen Futharkh.

Main article: Armanen-Orden

The Guido von List Society was re-established in the late1960s through contacts between the German/Austrianoccultist Adolf Schleipfer (1947) and the still living last

8 8 RESEARCH ON ARIOSOPHY

president of the Society, Hanns Bierbach.[52] Schleipferhad discovered some of Lists works in an antique book-store in the mid-1960s, and was inspired to found therunic and Armanist magazine Irminsul[53] in hopes of at-tracting suitable people for a revived Listian order. Hewas appointed the new president and continued to pub-lish Irminsul as the Voice of the Guido von List Society.Schleipfer also attended meetings of a related organ-isation, the Gode-Orden (Gothi-Order), which propa-gated a similar mixture of occult vlkisch thinking.There he met his wife Sigrun Schleipfer, ne Hammer-bacher (19402009),[54] daughter of the vlkisch writerand former NSDAP district leader, Dr. Hans Wil-helm Hammerbacher.[55] In 1976 the Schleipfers foundedthe Armanen-Orden (Armanen Order) as the reorgan-ised Guido von List Society.[56] Since then, Adolf andSigrun have served as the Grandmasters of the Order, al-though they have divorced and Sigrun now refers to her-self as Sigrun von Schlichting or Sigrun Freifrau vonSchlichting. They also revived the High Armanen Or-der (HAO) and brought it to an unprecedented level ofactivity.[57]

The Armanen-Orden is a neopagan esoteric society andreligious order reviving the occult teachings of Guido vonList. Its internal structure is organized in nine grades,inspired by Freemasonry. The order is modelled on, butnot limited to, the precepts of List, and its principles asformulated in its brochures are as follows:

The Armanen Order embodies the entireGermanic and Celtic peoples in their mental,spiritual and physical uniqueness.

The Armanen Order embodies the true re-alisation of the divine world order based onGermanic and Celtic wisdom, whose religiousand cultic aspect is formed by the native mythsof the gods.

The Awakening of the Armanen Order is arebirth of life based on its natural foundationsof the Germanic and Celtic people.

The Armanen-Orden celebrates seasonal festivities in asimilar fashion as Odinist groups do and invites interestedpeople to these events. The highlights are three 'Things atOstara (Easter), Midsummer and Fall (Wotans sacricialdeath), which are mostly celebrated at castles close to sa-cred places, such as the Externsteine. The author Stefanievon Schnurbein attended a Fall Thing in 1990 and givesthe following report in Religion als Kulturkritik (Religionand Cultural Criticism):

the participants meet in a room deco-rated with hand-woven wall hangings and pic-tures of Germanic gods, Odin and Frigga inthis case At one end of the room is a tablecovered with black cloth. On this a 4 ft. highwooden Irminsul, a spear, a sword, a replica

of a sun disc chariot, a leather-bound copy ofThe Edda as well as ritual bowls and candlesare placed. The participants are seated in asemi-circle in front of the table, the front rowbeing occupied by Order members clothed intheir ritual garb (black shirts for the men andlong white dresses for the women; both havethe AO emblem sewn on them) after severalinvocations the 'spirit ame', symbolising Odinin the spirit world, is lit in a bowl lled withlamp oil. The purpose of this cultic celebrationis the portrayal of Odins concentration fromspirit into matter. After a recital of the rstpart of Odins rune poem () from The Edda,the blood sacrice commences, in which abowl with animal blood is raised to the beat of agong and an invocation of sacrice. Then Odinis called into the realm by the participants whoassume the Odal rune stance, whisper 'W-O-D-A-N' nine times and nally sing an ode toOdin with the following words: 'Odin-Wodancome to us, od-uod, uod'. Wodans sacriceto himself is symbolised by extinguishing theame.

In 1977 Sigrun Schleipfer founded the Gemeinschaft zurErhaltung der Burgen (Society for the Conservation ofCastles), which proclaims castles to be among the lastparadises of the romantic era in this cold modern ageand had as its primary aim the purchase and restora-tion of a castle for the Order. In 1995, the society -nally acquired the castle of Rothenhorn in Szlichtyngowa(Poland), a run-down structure dating back to the 12thcentury, though most of the complex dates from the 16thcentury.Over many years, Adolf and Sigrun have republished allof Lists works (and many others relating to the Armanenrunes) in their original German. Adolf Schleipfer has alsocontributed an article to The Secret King, a study of KarlMaria Wiligut by Stephen Flowers and Michael Moyni-han, in which he points out the dierences between Wil-iguts beliefs and those which are accepted within Odin-ism or Armanism.[58]

8 Research on AriosophyAfter the war, Lanz von Liebenfels was rst brought toa wider (and scholarly) attention with Wilfried Daim'sbook Der Mann, der Hitler die Ideen gab (The Man WhoGave Hitler His Ideas) (1957). Although the book was notalways taken seriously within academia, for some timeLanz was seen as one of the most important inuenceson Hitler. Since the 1990s, however, historians havecast doubt on Lanz' signicance. The historian BrigitteHamann, who has written Hitlers Vienna: A DictatorsApprenticeship, is of the view that Lanz partly inuenced

9Hitlers diction, but had onlymarginal inuences onAdolfHitlers religious views.

8.1 The occult roots of Nazism

Main article: National Socialism and Occultism

The Thule Society, from which the NSDAP originated,was one of the ariosophic groups of the 1920s. ThuleGesellschaft had initially been the name of the Munichlodge of the Germanenorden. It took its name from analleged lost continent Thule, which was assumed to be themythical homeland from which the Aryan race had origi-nated. Atlantis at least, and most likely also Hyperborea,were taken to be identical with Thule.[59] The superiorityof Aryans over all other races was a key concept and themembers of various Germanenorden lodges saw them-selves (as Teutons or Germanic peoples) as the 'purest'branch of the Aryan race.Some of Lanzs proposals for racial purication anticipatethe Nazis. The sterilisation of those deemed to be ge-netically unt was in fact implemented under the Nazieugenics policies, but its basis lay in the theories of scien-tic racial hygienists. The Nazi eugenics programme hasno proven connection with Lanzs mystical rationale. Eu-genic ideas were widespread in his lifetime, whereas hehimself was banned from publishing in the Third Reichand his writings were suppressed.Following Goodrick-Clarkes caution in assessing the re-lation between the two,[60] Adolf Hitler cannot be consid-ered a pupil of Lanz von Liebenfels, as Lanz himself hadclaimed.[61] However, it has been suggested with someevidential basis that the young Hitler did read and collectLanzs Ostara magazine while living in Vienna:

In view of the similarity of their ideas relat-ing to the glorication and preservation of theendangeredAryan race, the suppression and ul-timate extermination of the non-Aryans, andthe establishment of a fabulous Aryan-Germanmillennial empire, the link between the twomen looks highly probable.[62]

Nevertheless: It also remains a fact that Hitler nevermentioned the name of Lanz in any recorded conversa-tion, speech, or document. If Hitler had been importantlyinuenced by [Lanz], he cannot be said to have ever ac-knowledged this debt.[63]

9 See also Black Sun (occult symbol)

Fylfot

Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft (Neopagancommunity for Germanic beliefs)

Ludwig Fahrenkrog Julius Evola (Esotericist)

Ren Gunon List of terms in Germanic mysticism Sig Rune Universal Medicine

10 Notes[1] In November 1924, Wiligut was committed to the

Salzburg mental asylum and certied insane. The fullreport on his condition referred to his violence at home,including threats to kill his wife, grandiose projects, ec-centric behaviour, and occult interests, before diagnos-ing a history of schizophrenia involving megalomaniacand paranoid delusions. A Salzburg court ruled him in-competent to administer his own aairs on the basis ofthis medical evidence.[4] The case is fully described inMunds (1982) biography. Wiligut continued his ancient-Germanic pretensions throughout his connement andalso upon his release in 1927. He retired from the SSon 28 August 1939 after his psychiatric history, previ-ously a closely guarded secret, became an embarrassmentto Himmler.

[2] The cases of three Listian occultists Kummer, Lautererand Marby are discussed below. In 1938 Wiliguts rec-ommendations were also decisive in securing the ocialdisapproval of the Italian esotericist Julius Evola.[5][6]

[3] Goodrick-Clarke refers especially to Die Armanenschaftder Ario-Germanen. Zweiter Teil, 1911 and the secondedition of Die Armanenschaft der Ario-Germanen. ErsterTeil, 1913.[18]

[4] Guido List started to use the aristocratic von in his namebetween 1903 and 1907.

[5] A list of the signatories in support of the Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft is printed in GLB 3 (1908), p. 197f. Mem-bership lists of theGuido-von-List-Gesellschaft are printedin GLB 2 (1908), pp. 714 and GLB 5 (1910), pp. 3849. The articles of the List Society are printed in GLB 1,second edition (1912), pp. 6878.

[6] Two other later works of List were published by AdolfBurdeke in Zrich. For a complete list of Lists books, seethe bibliography in Goodrick-Clarke 1985: 274.

[7] The term Ariosophy, meaning occult wisdom concern-ing the Aryans, was rst coined by Lanz von Liebenfels in1915 and became the label for his doctrine in the 1920s.List actually called his doctrine Armanism, while Lanzused the terms Theozoology and Ario-Christianity be-fore the First World War. In this book [i.e. The OccultRoots of Nazism] 'Ariosophy' is used generically to de-scribe the Aryan-racist-occult theories of both men andtheir followers.[38]

10 10 NOTES

[8] According to 'Lexicon of Ariosophy' by Frater GeorgNikolaus of the ONT, an undated manuscript preservedin the Rudolf Mund Archive (Vienna) and cited inGoodrick-Clarke (1985), pp. 159, 254.

10.1 References[1] Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 227), note 1 to the Introduction

[2] Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 5152)



[5] Flowers and Moynihan (2007: 59)

[6] Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 190).

[7] Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 202).

[8] Flowers (translator) (1988), The Secret of the Runes, pp.43, 69 and passim.

[9] Goodrick-Clarke (1985), pp. 3641.

[10] Goodrick-Clarke (1985), p. 56.


[12] Flowers (1988), pp. 167.

[13] Flowers (1988), p. 77.

[14] Goodrick-Clarke (1985), pp. 40, 50, 84 and passim.

[15] Flowers (1988), p. 24.

[16] List (1908), tr. Flowers (1988), p. 109.

[17] List (1891), Deutsch-Mythologische Landschaftsbilder(republished), Berlin.

[18] Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 23940, notes to Chapter 9).

[19] Goodrick-Clarke (1985), pp. 79, 80.

[20] Flowers, translator (1988), The Secret of the Runes, pp.107.

[21] Goodrick-Clarke (1985), pp. 43, 162 arms Wachlersmembership in the List Society.




[25] Karl-Maria Weisthor (i.e. Wiligut) to Himmler, 2 May1934, Bundesarchiv, Koblenz, Himmler Nachlass 19,cited in Goodrick-Clarke (1985), p. 254 n.21.

[26] Flowers (1988), p. 35.

[27] Marby (1935), pp. 742, cited in Flowers (1988), p. 117n.47.

[28] Flowers (1988), p. 117 n.47.


[30] Rudgley (2006), p. 119.

[31] Rudgley (2006), p. 125.

[32] Flowers (1988), pp. 59, 165, 177.

[33] Lanz-Liebenfels (1903), pp. 3379.

[34] Theozoologie oder die Kunde von den Sodoms-ingenund dem Gtter-Elektron, Archive.

[35] Lanz von Liebenfels (2002).



[38] Goodrick-Clarke (1985: 227, note 1 to the Introduction).



[41] Richard S. Levy, Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclope-dia of Prejudice and Persecution, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO,2005, p. 269

[42] Swatika, Intelinet


[44] Thomas (2005)


[46] Phelps 1963.






[52] According to Flowers (1988: 36), Schleipfer renewed theGvLS in 1969. According to Schnurbein (1995: 24), hebecame its president in 1967.

[53] Irminsul in the German National Library.

[54] Handbuch Deutscher Rechtsextremismus (1996).

[55] Schnurbein (1995), p. 27.

[56] Schnurbein (1995), p. 25.

[57] Flowers (1988), p. 36.

[58] Schleipfer (2007).

[59] Strohm (1997), p. 57.

[60] Goodrick-Clarke (1985), (preface by Rohan Butler).




10.2 Bibliography 11

10.2 Bibliography Balzli, Johannes. 1917. Guido v. List: Der Wieder-entdecker Uralter ArischerWeisheit Sein Leben undsein Schaen. Leipzig and Vienna: Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft.

Flowers, Stephen E., and Michael Moynihan. 2007.The Secret King: The Myth and Reality of Nazi Oc-cultism. Feral House and Dominion Press. Pa-perback, ISBN 978-1-932595-25-3. Hardcover(2008), ISBN 978-0-9712044-6-1. Revised and ex-panded edition of Flowers and Moynihan 2001, TheSecret King: Karl Maria Wiligut, Himmlers Lord ofthe Runes. The Real Documents of Nazi Occultism,Dominion Press and Rna-Raven Press.

Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 1985. The Occult Rootsof Nazism: The Ariosophists of Austria and Ger-many 18901935. Wellingborough, England: TheAquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-402-4. Repub-lished 1992 as The Occult Roots of Nazism: SecretAryan Cults and Their Inuence on Nazi Ideology:The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 18901935 (New York University Press, ISBN 0-8147-3060-4) and 2003 as The Occult Roots of Nazism:Secret Aryan Cults and Their Inuence on Nazi Ide-ology (Gardners Books, ISBN 1-86064-973-4).

Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 2003. Black Sun:Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Iden-tity. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-3155-4

Kertzer, David. 2001. The Popes Against theJews: The Vaticans Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-40623-9

Lange, Hans-Jrgen. 1998. Weisthor: Karl MariaWiligut Himmlers Rasputin und seine Erben.

Lanz-Liebenfels, Jrg. 1903/1904. Anthropo-zoon Biblicum, Vierteljahrsschrift fr Bibelkunde 1(1903): 30755, 42969; 2 (1904): 2660, 31435,395412.

Lanz-Liebenfels, Jrg. 1905. Theozoologie: oderdie Kunde von den Sodoms-ingen und demGtter-Elektron. Vienna. (Republished as GeorgJrg Lanz von Liebenfels 2002. ISBN 3-8311-3157-0, ISBN 978-3-8311-3157-0)

List, Guido von. 1908. Das Geheimnis der Runen(Guido-von-List-Bcherei 1). Gross-Lichterfelde:P. Zillmann. Translated with introduction byStephen E. Flowers, Ph.D. (aka Edred Thorsson)1988 as The Secret of the Runes. Rochester, Ver-mont: Destiny Books. ISBN 0-89281-207-9

List, Guido von. 1910. Die Religion der Ario-Germanen in ihrer Esoterik und Exoterik. Zrich.

Marby, Friedrich B. 1935. Rassische Gymnastikals Aufrassungsweg (Marby-Runen-Bcherei 5/6).Stuttgart.

Mund, Rudolf J. 1982. Der Rasputin Himmlers: DieWiligut-Saga. Vienna.

Phelps, Reginald H. 1963. "Before Hitler Came":Thule Society and Germanen Orden". Journal ofModern History 35(3): 245261.

Rudgley, Richard. 2007 [2006]. Pagan Resurrec-tion: A Force for Evil or the Future of Western Spir-ituality?. London: Arrow Books. ISBN 978-0-09-928119-1.

Schleipfer, Adolf. 2007. The Wiligut Saga(Archived 2009-10-25). In Flowers and Moynihan2007. Originally published in Irminsul 5 (1982).

Schnurbein, Stefanie von. 1995 [1992]. Religion alsKulturkritik.

Strohm, Harald. 1997 [1973]. Die Gnosis undder Nationalsozialismus (Gnosis and National So-cialism). Suhrkamp. ISBN 3-932710-68-1

Snner, Rdiger. 1997. Schwarze Sonne: Entfes-selung undMissbrauch derMythen in Nationalsozial-ismus und rechter Esoterik.

Thomas, Robert. 2005. The Nature of NaziIdeology (history). Libertarian.co.uk webpage:LibertarianCoUk-Histn015-PDF

12 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses11.1 Text

Ariosophy Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariosophy?oldid=663224063 Contributors: Leandrod, Raven in Orbit, Altenmann, SamSpade, Keresaspa, Mike Rosoft, D6, Duja, Dbachmann, MPerel, Kusma, Arthur Warrington Thomas, Stemonitis, Woohookitty, Tabletop,Lawrence King, Pigman, Gadget850, SmackBot, Durova, Chris the speller, John D. Croft, BrownHairedGirl, Iridescent, FairuseBot, Cm-drObot, Bellerophon5685, Mamalujo, Al Lemos, Fayenatic london, CommonsDelinker, Johnpacklambert, Zara1709, Yecril, Squids andChips, Gnostrat, Butseriouslyfolks, GlassFET, Trigaranus, Lightmouse, Kalidasa 777, Hermione is a dude, ImageRemovalBot, ClueBot,Deanlaw, The Thing That Should Not Be, Hadrianheugh, Epsilon60198, P. S. Burton, Ottre, Coinmanj, TheRedPenOfDoom, Antedilu-vian67, Editor2020, Brynhild64, LordNice, Addbot, Blanche of Kings Lynn, Lightbot, Otrfan, Ben Ben, Yobot, Andreasmperu, Sageo,Palamabron, AnomieBOT, Quebec99, LilHelpa, WebCiteBOT, SixBlueFish, FreeKnowledgeCreator, BrideOfKripkenstein, GossamerB-liss, Galorey1, BrightBlackHeaven, Beyond My Ken, Angrytoast, Heracles31, , LWG, Bhlegkorbh, Dream of Nyx, Helpful PixieBot, BG19bot, YiFeiBot, Jorsanabdel, Hinkmar, 2013Ca55, User000name, Elaboratebreakfast, KasparBot and Anonymous: 42

11.2 Images File:Armanenrunor_i_cirkel_med_siffror_vector.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Armanenrunor_

i_cirkel_med_siffror_vector.svg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Armanenrunor_i_cirkel_med_siror.png Original artist:Armanenrunor_i_cirkel_med_siror.png: Hedning on swedish Wikipedia

File:GermanicMysticism.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/GermanicMysticism.JPG License: ? Contribu-tors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Jrg_Lanz_von_Liebenfels.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/J%C3%B6rg_Lanz_von_Liebenfels.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Original: Jrg Lanz von Liebenfels: Die Theosophie und die assyrischen Menschen-tiere in ihrem Verhltnis zu den neuesten Resultaten der anthropologischen Forschung, Gro-Lichterfelde 1907Nachdruck: Claudia Barth: ber alles in der Welt - Esoterik und Leitkultur. Eine Einfhrung in die Kritik irrationaler Welterklrungen,Aschaenburg 2006 Original artist: ?

File:Rudolf_John_Gorsleben.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Rudolf_John_Gorsleben.jpg License:Public domain Contributors: from the book "en:The Occult Roots of Nazism" FK0071a 08:43, 4 January 2007 (UTC) Originally fromen.wikipedia; description page is/was here. Original artist: The original uploader was Robert C Prenic at English Wikipedia

File:Sebottendorff.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Sebottendorff.jpg License: Public domain Con-tributors: english wikipedia Original artist: User Grandia01

File:WernervonBlowsWorldRuneClock.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/WernervonB%C3%BClowsWorldRuneClock.JPG License: Fair use Contributors:Reproduced in the book The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1985, ISBN 0-85030-402-4) where it is sourced (pp159, 254) to the book Hoch-Zeit der Menschheit (The Zenith of Humanity) by Rudolf John Gorsleben (Leipzig, 1930), p.328f. Gorslebensbook featured illustrations drawn from numerous scholarly studies in prehistory, archaeology, ethnology, and art history and reproducedover a hundred plates from such works, including photographs, line drawings, diagrams, and maps (Goodrick-Clarke, op. cit., 158-159) soit is unclear when and where the clock design was rst published. Goodrick-Clarkes book has no information on copyright/permission forthe image. Original artist: ?

11.3 Content license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Overview'Ariosophic' writers and organisations

ArmanismGuido von List Society and High Armanen OrderListians under the Third Reich

TheozoologyGermanenordenThule SocietyEdda SocietyModern organisationsArmanen-Orden

Research on AriosophyThe occult roots of Nazism

See alsoNotesReferencesBibliography

Text and image sources, contributors, and licensesTextImagesContent license